Wind Rose

During 2020 I noticed that I was gravitating - as a listener - to more intimate, human-sounding music. Nick Drake. Joni Mitchell. I wanted to hear skin on guitar string, or a voice that sounded as clear and close as if that person were sitting right next to me. Looking back, it makes sense that I was seeking out that human touch in a time that was so robbed of it. Just like everybody, it was a hard time for me. Christmas had been loving but distant, it was a bloody cold winter. In my head, so many conflicting thoughts were twisted around one another as I was trying to make sense of the situation. I needed to vent. And so, in January 2021 I started writing. Like therapy, pretty much. I wanted to make something warm, something soothing. A blanket I could throw around myself and snuggle into. And not only that: I wanted to share it. And so to help me finish this album, I called on many old friends who lent their musicianship to these songs which means that now (for me) this record is fuelled not by solitariness, but friendship instead.

Edward Gregson is best known for his dazzling orchestral works and music for brass and wind bands, but this recording of his complete piano works to date reminds us of his equally impressive catalogue of works for soloists and chamber ensembles. Gregson shows us a more intimate side in his piano music. From the Lullaby composed while a student, to the Tippett-inspired Piano Sonata, we are charmed, moved and thrilled in equal measure by this programme of his complete music for solo piano. This recording marks the debut of distinguished pianist Murray McLachlan on Naxos.

Dollar Brand - African Breeze (1974) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9132}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 220 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 96 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 141 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1974, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9132
Jazz / Post Bop / International Jazz / Piano

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. Dollar Brand playing solo – but with a vibrancy that hardly makes you miss the other instruments at all! Most of the record features solo piano, but there's also a bit of bamboo flute as well – leading off the set and establishing this great organic vibe to the whole thing, which is then followed by Brand's long-spun, completely hypnotic lines on piano! The recording quality is wonderful – very clear and strong, and quite resonant too – and the set features two side-long long suites – "Africa" and "Reflection" – with shorter passages that move through the warm range of moods you'd find in Brand's other strong work from the time. Titles include "Ancient Africa", "Msunduza", "Single Petal Of A Rose", and "African Sun".

Archie Shepp - Perfect Passions (1978) {West Wind WW 2082 rel 1992}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 278 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 133 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 24 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1978, 1992 West Wind | WW 2082
Jazz / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Saxophone

Recorded in 1978 in Warsaw, Poland, this set of Archie Shepp's was played before it became his journeyman live gig. The greasy rhythm section includes Wilber Little on bass, the amazing Clifford Jarvis on drums, and German pianist Seigfried Kessler on piano. There are three tunes in the set: one of the finest and most involved harmonic performances of "Mama Rose"; "Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life," which is a mirror image of Coltrane's 1956 read, and goes on for a full 20 minutes.